


Shadowing

by LyrZetara



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Della maternal figure, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Harm, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Scars, Teen Lena de Spell, Trauma, Wounds, taking care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 11:20:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30054642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyrZetara/pseuds/LyrZetara
Summary: Lena and Webby sneak back into the manor only to be caught by Della, who's shocked to find Lena was on the receiving end of a beat down against Phantom Blot, but something doesn't add up as the stubborn teen tries to dismiss their concern.A lot of secrets and truths lie underneath those scars.Same Dynamic as my fic "The Space in the Shadows" (Della as maternal figure for Lena) set two years into the future, tackles on stronger themes, self harm.Don't own the rights.(Posted before watching the serie's finale)
Relationships: Lena (Disney: DuckTales)/Webby Vanderquack
Kudos: 61





	Shadowing

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like trying to dig deeper into the characters' complexity.

The window's lock was easily picked by Webby, who kept on looking over her shoulder to make sure Lena was still there and hadn't fled with the shadows. That night had not been their finest, battle-wise. They had run into Phantom Blot, which wasn't a rare occurrence given that he had been chasing them down for a couple of years now, but usually the duo could take him down easily, but Lena's head hadn't been in the game, which ultimately resulted in the witch being on the receiving end of what was unarguably a beat down. 

Once inside the manor, Webby grabbed the witch's hand, looking at her pleadingly for the twelfth time that night.

"Please, just let Granny take a look, she can patch you up"

"I'm fine, Pink" Lena replied, doing her best not to wince as she held her side.

"You are bleeding out" she urged, tugging her hand, minding not to harm her further, but her best friend was being uncharacteristically stubborn.

"I don't even have blood" Lena retorted.

"Well you clearly are losing something!" she raised her voice far more than Lena would have wanted given that it was well past one in the morning "You are leaking magic and we don't know what could happen if you lose too much! You could disappear!"

Lena closed the distance trying to calm her, hoping no one had been woken up by this "Hey, hey, I'm not going to disappear, I promise" she assured hushedly.

"Then why didn't you jump out of the way when he aimed his gauntlet at you?" Webby asked, wounded. Tears at the corners of her eyes "We've fought him for almost three years now, you let him have that shot"

Lena came empty handed, no response she could offer. Her eyes were so focused and yet lost into Webby's that neither of them noticed the figure that approached them.

"What's going on here?"

"Della" Webby turned around to see the woman wrapped in her night robe, it wasn't clear if they had woken her up since sleep tended to elude the pilot, but she was there now and that was enough to make Lena nervous.

"Nothing, I'm heading home" Lena turned around, trying to find a shadow dark enough to make a clear connection all the way to her house.

"Hold it right there" Della grabbed her arm forcing her to turn around, only to find a pained expression on the teen's face as she winced, shielding an arm against her chest.

"What happened?" Della demanded, grabbing Lena's chin, moving her now long streak of blue hair out her face to reveal a black eye and a scar that was currently bleeding lightly "Lena!" she mumbled in horror.

"It's fine!" the teen took a step back, away from her grasp "I just had a bad fight, it happens sometimes"

"Who did this?" Della's tone was stern.

"Phantom Blot" Webby answered knowing Lena wouldn't budge "we encountered him"

"What were you two girls doing outside alone?! Why did you engage?!"

"Please, we've done this since forever, tonight I just got sloppy. Even the triplets come back with scratches or broken bones, this is nothing compared to it"

Della frowned, clearly upset "Yeah, sometimes accidents happen, and when they do, they have the whole family behind them to take care and protect them"

"Well I don't need any protection!" Lena shouted.

"Yeah, it sure shows! You did a grand job tonight, didn't you?"

Lena harshly turned her face away from Della's gaze, clenching her fists as magic orbs started to form around them.

Della knew they were heating up the argument, so she exhaled slowly, calming herself down "Come on" she said turning around "let's take care of those wounds, you can go back to your house afterwards"

Lena shot a quick glance in her direction, debating herself on whether to obey or just leave already. The fact that Webby was staring at her so diligently didn't help.

"Lena" Della called again, her tone firm but not scolding. 

"Fine" she muttered, holding her side tighter as she walked past the pilot, walking into her room's direction.

Della gazed at her leave before exhaling tiredly, Lena's rebellious attitude lately had been the cause of some struggles, but Della knew there was more than what she showed on the surface.

"Should I get a first aid kit?" Webby spoke up in a small voice that didn't match her usual drive. Just the Della realized the smaller girl was still there.

"Thanks, honey, but I have a spare in my room" she walked toward her, placing a hand over her shoulder "how are you holding up? Do you need medical attention?"

"I'm fine, just one minor scratch" literally it was all she had to show for the battle, which surprised Della, because that meant the fight hadn't even been a challenging one, so why did Lena take such heavy blows?

"She let it happen" Webby mumbled an answer to the unspoken question "I don't really know how to explain it, but...it was like if she wanted to receive that punishment"

Della dropped her shoulders as her eyes drifted elsewhere "I'll talk to Lena" she gazed back at her "but you have to answer for your actions too, Webby" Della said steadily "why did you sneak out to look for a fight? You know better than that. The attacks form the Beagle Boys and the other gangs are getting bolder and bolder, everyone at this household is a target. It was really reckless"

Webby gazed down ashamed, knowing she deserved to be called out on that.

"I know, I'm...I'm sorry" she fumbled with her bracelet "we didn't get out to look for trouble, it was just...one of those nights in which Lena shows up when she can't sleep and...she looked so restless, she couldn't stand being inside the room, so we went for a walk to get some air" she explained "we were walking by the beach, by the amphitheater, when he ambushed us" she shrugged "I didn't thought it would be much of a struggle, that's why I didn't call anyone. It was after Lena was struck that I realized it was too late to back down"

Della exhaled, rubbing her temple "If Beakley hears you sneaked out, she'll put you under house arrest, real house arrest" she emphasized.

"I know" Webby repeated, shrugging "She'll also tell Lena to stop coming like that" she added sadly.

Della groaned inwardly "Two weeks, you won't be joining any expeditions for the next two weeks. You can tell everyone that you just don't feel up to it or that you have some research to do or whatever you like, but you are most definitely grounded"

"And Lena...?" Webby asked cautiously.

Della sighed, running a hand down her face "I'll handle this" she said "She won't be doing these midnight strolls, that's for sure, but if she has been reaching out to you, I won't keep her from doing that. We'll work a better way"

Webby smiled gratefully.

Della gave her a small smile in return "Now come on, get to bed. Make sure to disinfect that scratch first"

"Okay"

"And Webby" Della called "I know you'll always try to support Lena, but if at any point you feel like you are in way over your head, it's okay to ask for help. The wrong idea of loyalty won't do anyone any good, you won't betray her trust by telling others if Lena needs more help than you can provide. You are still a kid, it's not something you have to carry"

Webby stood silent, taking those words in before giving a small nod. Della nodded back, ready to go to her room.

"Her back" Webby said "...please take care of those wounds too"

Della thought the only damage had been to Lena's side, but if Webby said this, then perhaps the teen had been more beaten up than what it appeared.

***

By the time Della reached her room, she found the teen seated on the edge of the bed, facing away from the entrance. She was still heavily leaning to the front and holding her side tightly while grunting under her breath.

"Keep applying pressure" Della instructed as she reached the nightstand, taking the first aid kit.

Lena looked over her shoulder finding the room otherwise empty "Where's Webby?"

"Sent her to bed, grounded"

Lena wiped her head back to the front, mumbling something under her breath "It wasn't her fault, you know?"

"Well, willingly choosing to accompany you to a walk on the beach past midnight was on her" Della reached her side, opening the box "You won't be doing those either, by the way" she eyed her severely.

"Whatever" Lena mumbled "I can go with the shadows"

"Yes, you could easily do that, but Webby can't. You can't put her at risk like that, I was sure you were more thoughtful than that" Della mixed the alcohol into a cotton knowing her words would sting a lot more than that remedy, as she pressed it against the side of her face, making her flinch "and since you mention going with the shadows, how come you didn't do that to avoid getting hit like this?"

Lena pulled away unable to take the sting "You weren't there, you don't know  
how the fight went"

"Right" Della's tone dripped sarcasm "so the same guy you have been regularly fighting somehow one up you at the peak of your powers but didn't lay a finger on Webby"

"He'd be in a hospital if he had" Lena's eyes bursted blue for an instant after the statement, but they quickly lost their intensity as she doubled back in pain.

Della left everything aside, quickly placing a hand over her shoulder, waiting for her to recover.

Lena exhaled tiredly "Just say it already, say I disappointed you and that I was a reckless fool that couldn't even take head on a loser like Phantom Blot"

"You know I would never say that to you, Lena" Della's words were firm and true.

The teen turned her face away, still hunching into herself.

The pilot let go some of her anger after seeing her that defeated and hearing how earnestly she had said that. She was expecting Magica's words to ring in her ears, but Della was not about to fulfil that nightmare.

So, instead, she gently grabbed her chin, pulling her upwards to carefully disinfect the blown she had taken to the head. She methodically began taking care of it, stopping the bleeding -or at least stopping the dark essence from leaking through her skin. She placed a band aid over it and began to work her way to the black eye.

"I know this wasn't an accident" she spoke as gently as possible, but with resolve "or at least, not in the conventional way" she moved the cotton under her eye seeing how swollen it was "you let it happen, Lena. You wanted to feel this, why?"

The teen's beak shut even tighter.

"Guilt?" Della said "Hate?" she set the tools down after finishing with her face "whatever it is, you have been bottling it up. You know that only hurts you in the end, and I believe you rather feel this physical hurt than whatever is eating you inside"

Tears were forming at the corners of her eyes, but Lena didn't let them take over. She rather have silence fill the room.

"Let go of your arm, let me see the wound" Della instructed, taking Lena's wrist and pulling it up just to see her clothes were soaked in the dark fluid her body kept on expelling. 

Della moved the shirt upwards to have a better look at the actual scar, but Lena hastily moved her arm down, concealing it.

"Lena" she warned steadily, meeting her eyes as the teen began to move rather anxiously in her seat "I need to take a look to assess the cut, I'm pretty sure you need stitched"

"Fine just...I'll move it" she rolled up her shirt exposing the side of her torso where a nasty cut resided. The bruising was bad and most of her feathers were soaked, torn or burnt, mostly a combination of the three.

"Lena" this time Della didn't call her name like a scolding, true concern was ringing in her voice as she saw the damage.

"It's...it's not as bad as it looks," Lena offered. She never liked making Della worry, even when they weren't exactly looking eye to eye, she cared enough to reassure her.

Della gently placed her hand over the area trying to see how deep it was. By the way the teen tried to wiggle out of her touch and the amount of shadow-blood that leaked, it was deep enough to be concerning, but at least having no internal organs meant nothing important could be hit.

"I'm going to have to remove some of the feathers to stitch you up" she grabbed the tweezers "It might hurt, some of them are well buried into your flesh" she grabbed the first one pulling it out slowly but by Lena's muffled whimper it wasn't gentle enough "that's it, the first one is always the worst" she continued the procedure feeling her flinch, pull away and wince now and then. She only managed to stay still when her fingers found a way to tug at her friendship bracelet, finding comfort in the little object. Della was sure that the whole thing would have been a lot easier if it was Webby's hand the thing she was holding, but for now, that amulet would have to do.

"That's it" Della set aside the last of it,pressing a clean cloth onto her side "now comes the stitches"

"Great" Lena replied sarcastically, bracing herself for something worse.

"Can you cast a small flame? I need to sterilize the needle first"

"Or I could magically zip up the whole thing"

"Something tells me that if you were able to, you would have done that already"

Lena hunched forward, reluctantly snapping her fingers for a blue spark of fire to appear at the tip of her index. Della set the needle over it for a few seconds before actually stabbing it into Lena's flesh to stitch her up.

"Why can't you treat these wounds?" Della asked, stealing a glance to see Lena biting down on her sleeve.

"'Cause it was made by someone's powerful -and stolen- magic, you can't undo the work of a higher magic than your own"

"You seem to know a lot about this"

Lena didn't answer, instead a curse escaped her beak as she doubled back, sweating heavily as her skin was sewed back together. 

"Almost done," Della announced as she cut the threat and swiftly put a patch on her side, securing it with medical tape "there"

"Good" she unrolled her shirt standing up "I'm going home, thanks"

"Wait a moment, we aren't done, I still have to check the ones on your back"

"My what?"

"Your back, Webby asked me to take care of them"

Lena's eyes showed equal parts terror and sadness "Webby..." she mumbled lost in thought.

"Come on, let's see them"

Lena averted her eyes monumentally "They...they are not important" she said with a smaller voice, one that didn't challenge her for a change but that was pleading instead.

"They must be if Webby mentioned them"

Lena gazed guiltily at the floor as she hugged herself, her unharmed arm trying to reach behind her "I'm not bleeding or anything, see?"

The resolve by which Lena refused to budge only made Della's determination grow "Sit down and pull the back of your shirt up"

Lena knew there was no room for arguments. Even if she wanted to leave with the shadows now, her body was exhausted from enduring the old fashion way of healing. 

"Fine, just one quick look" she grabbed a chair this time and sat on it in a way her arms could rest on the back of the seat, then she pulled the clothes up to expose her white back feathers.

Della didn't see anything at first glance, there were no open wounds, nothing to be patched or disinfected.

"All good now?" Lena's tone was anxious.

"Looks alright to me" Della admitted taking a step forward just as Lena started to pull down the shirt, but the way the fabric moved her feathers revealed something underneath.

"Wait a second" Della ran her hand through the plumage and soon found some lines she could trace with her fingertips. She moved in the same direction of the mark only to reveal a deep cut that had healed. But just when that cut ended another started, and then another and another, soon to reveal Lena's whole back was a map of cicatrized scars.

"Lena...what...what is this?"

"Nothing" her voice was hard and distant as she tried to cover the lines, but Della kept a steady hold.

"Lena how did this happen?" 

"They don't matter anymore! The healed ages ago!"

"Why do you have so many of them? Why didn't they vanish like all your other scars?" and then something the teen had just said minutes prior came back "because a higher magic than your own did them" she said out loud and by the way the girl flinched, it was evident she had hit the nail right in the head "Magica did this?!" 

Lena tensed at the mention of the name. She found her nerve to move away, hiding the scars.

"Like I said, it was a long time ago, there's no use in trying to treat them now" she turned going for the exit.

"Hold up" Della grabbed her good arm turning her around "you let Phantom Blot have a go at you because it felt like Magica's magic?"

Lena turned beet red at her accusation "You don't understand, okay?!"

"Well I'm trying to!"

"I don't want you to understand!" she said more desperately "I don't want any of you to-to-to mess with that part of my past!"

"Well clearly it's not in the past if it's still haunting you now!"

"I just needed a little reminder!"

That only shocked Della further "Reminder? Lena, you were willingly going to let yourself be tortured, how can you expect me to be calmed about that?!"

"Because it helped me feel real!" she yelled with despair, the tears rolled out mercilessly after that "Because- because she would tell me I was nothing, that I wasn't supposed to be sentient, that I was- that I was just a mistake and couldn't have feelings and...and I didn't have feelings or...or at least back then I didn't know what they were or how to call them. But one thing I knew for certain was pain and...and pain meant I was real, so- so every time she hurt me it just reassured me that I was real, no matter what she said, she was wrong" her voice was broken, her soul shattered.

"Honey..." Della reached out to grab her shaky arm, but Lena trembled more violently, so she desisted "why would you need to go back to that?"

Lena hugged herself tighter "Because...it's always been easier to understand pain, and I've been feeling... things I can't, can't name" she ran a hand moving her hair out of her face "I can't tell if I'm the one feeling or I'm just imitating others around me, shadowing their expressions, their emotions" she sobbed "Just like I did Magica's"

"Sweetie-"

"I'm sorry, okay?! I wish I wasn't this broken, or this messed up after so long, I'm sorr-"

Della wrapped her in arms, holding the back of her head, as she embraced her tightly "You are not broken" she said into her hair "healing is not a linear process, no one is expecting you to be at a hundred percent all the time"

"But I was doing better" she cried into her shoulder "I was...I was becoming someone..."

"You already are someone of your own," Della said with resolve.

"I'm sorry" Lena repeated more broken each time.

"Hey, hey, listen to me" she held her tighter "you are not messed up, you are not pieces put back together, you are a whole, you are an individual and you are a wonderful person" she said, feeling the teen's erratic breathing muffled against her robe. So Della knew Lena needed to hear what she was about to confess. 

"In...in the moon, gravity is way less than on Earth, you know this, I'm sure but-" words caught up on her throat "but what you can't picture from that, unless you actually are there, is how it affects you. There's no pressure pushing you down, no real way to feel your own body as it used to here... and...after I lost my leg I had this ghost pains from something that wasn't there and at times it was hard to convince myself that any part of me was there at all so...so I put some pressure into some parts, like my arms. And I pressed and I pressed until I felt a bruise and in a sense that assured me I was alive, that I was in my body. Then, when I needed to stay focused I would push on the bruises until they hurt...it was...it was a self imposed punishment of a sort. For what I did, for who I left behind, I was...I was mad at myself but I couldn't stop working, so I would drive my body to its limits in every aspect. Sleep deprivation, hunger, exhaustion... It took me a lot of time to quit those habits. Once I did, I could concentrate better on what mattered" she sniffed.

"So believe me when I tell you that I understand Lena, I do, I truly do, honey. So take it from me when I tell you, you are not alone. And I can help you, but only if you let me. We can find a name to call all the emotions and feelings that you are having, we can work through those. You don't have to keep all that to yourself, we've got you, sweetie"

Della felt the teen's body buckle, they soon ended on the floor, kneeling there as Lena kept her hold around Della.

"I don't deserve any of you" her voice was frail and defeated.

"You deserve far more," Della said, rubbing circles on her back, wishing she could erase all those marks, that she could bring her the reassurance that she was so much more than what she thought of herself at times like this "Lena, we love you"

A sob ripped through her body, aching on her chest as she hid under Della's chin "I...I love you all too...that's the only feeling I can truly know it's my own"

Della felt the tears roll out of her eyes at Lena's words. She pressed a kiss on top of her head "Then we are off to a great start" she said gently. 

"I...I want to get better" Lena sniffed loosening her hold on Della, pushing away in the slightest so her words wouldn't be drowned down "Please don't...don't give up on me"

"Never" Della cupped her face "I promise"

Lena hugged her strongly with her unharmed arm, shielding herself against's Della's chest, knowing she would always feel safe and protected under her embrace "Thank you, mom"

**Author's Note:**

> Your thought are appreciated to help me improve.


End file.
